Enhancing critical features of poly(amino acid) based meshes

Abstract

The following manuscript presents a comprehensive investigation regarding the influence of electrospinning parameters on fiber quality and mechanical properties of nanofibrous poly(amino acid) meshes. At first, we examine parameters including: solvent options, polymer concentrations, collector speed and distance, voltage, needle sizes and flow rates to prepare fibrous scaffolds based on polysuccinimide. The main objective was to attempt and decrease the fiber diameter as much as possible while not reducing the fiber quality. After that mechanical properties of the meshes were investigated, we demonstrate two possible methods to reinforce them: mechanically induced alignment of the fibers and multilayer compression. Characterization methods include a solubility study, viscosity and conductivity measurements, ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and mechanical uniaxial test. Fiber size was successfully reduced from 615 to 280 nm without any quality aberrations. Mechanical performance not only improved almost three‐fold, but was also enhanced in two directions due to the multilayer composition. With these optimizations, the PSI mesh now possess favorable features for biomedical application according to the relevant literature.

Characterization of Electrospun Polysuccinimide‐Dopamine Conjugates and Effect on Cell Viability and Uptake

“…According to the load-extension curves, the samples show typical behavior of polymer-based and fibrous materials during elongation, which is in good correlation with the literature (Figures S5-S7, Supporting Information). [32,44] The initial modulus values did not show the tendency that we experienced in the case of the specific load capacity. There was no significant difference between the initial modulus of DG2 and DG4, while DG1 showed only a slightly lower modulus than the other samples.…”

“…According to the load–extension curves, the samples show typical behavior of polymer‐based and fibrous materials during elongation, which is in good correlation with the literature (Figures S5–S7, Supporting Information). [ 32,44 ]…”

Formation of Three‐Dimensional Polysuccinimide Electrospun Fiber Meshes Induced by the Combination of CaCl2 and Humidity

“…These tendencies correlate well with the literature data about the precursor solution viscosity's effect and the previous findings related to PSI fibers. [ 28 ]…”

Electrospun polysuccinimide scaffolds containing different salts as potential wound dressing material

“…The white PSI powder dissolved in DMF resulted in a deep-yellowish viscous solution ( Figure 1A ) as previously described [ 22 , 48 ]. By adding salts, the color deepened with the increased concentration of Sr(NO 3 ) 2 , while a paler color appeared in the case of Zn(O 2 CCH 3 ) 2 .…”